Lincoln is great, Daniel Day Lewis is mesmerizing

The trailers that first came out for Lincoln didn’t exactly ‘wow’ me.  Moreover, as a rule of thumb I’ve never been attracted to biographies because I know how the story ends.  The reason I was interested in seeing Lincoln at all is because it’s directed by Steven Spielberg and stars Daniel Day Lewis.

The first thing I noticed about Lincoln was the set design and the detail that went into every single shot.  It feels like a real, operating House of Representatives, White House or wherever they happened to be.  Every shot is a labor of love simply from the standpoint of background detail.

Lincoln starts with him telling a story and taking questions from some soldiers.  This is where the audience is first introduced to Daniel Day Lewis as Lincoln.  Much has been made about how Day Lewis went about getting the speech for Lincoln.  In the end, his speech, combined with the acting of Day Lewis are magnetic and reason enough to see Lincoln.

You look forward to hearing him speak or be on the screen.  Day Lewis’ speech in the movie is so deliberate and powerful that the pauses and silence that he puts in his lines convey almost as much emotion as his lines.

Lincoln is about the passage of the 13^th Amendment, the times around that period and the back room politics that were done in order to make it pass.    Lincoln tasks his Secretary of State to ensure that they can get the needed votes from the Democrats in order for it to pass.

There are numerous scenes where Lincoln is sharing stories with people.  As a member of the audience you don’t want the stories to end.  The pauses that are in his speech, the intonation-everything about it is just perfect.  Realistically, we don’t know exactly what Lincoln sounded like, so it’s not as if I’m saying that Day Lewis is impersonating Lincoln.

Day Lewis essentially becomes Lincoln.  Added to the mix is Tommy Lee Jones as Thaddeus Stevens and many other actors that you’ll recognize.  Jones’ Stevens is of special note because he plays a central figure in getting the 13^th Amendment passed.  His performance is almost as special as the one that Day Lewis gives.

Speeches about policy and government aren’t exactly ‘entertaining’.  The speeches between the Republicans who supported the 13^th Amendment and the Democrats who were fighting it are high entertainment.  It’s intelligent dialogue that is sharp, funny, biting and true.  Imagine if Aaron Sorkin had lived in the 1860’s and you get an idea of the give and take that verbally went on between them.

This is not a sad movie.  Of course, you know how it ends, but it is not sad.  For me, Lincoln was more uplifting, as it was about the ‘never give up’ spirit of man.  It’s an example of how effective government can be when a real leader does what they need to do. To me this was similar to The King’s Speech.  It’s a movie that on paper doesn’t seem interesting at all.  However, when you see it, the movie blows away all expectations and sticks with you.  Lincoln is better than The King’s Speech.

There are some harsh words in Lincoln.  The N word is used quite often.  It stings the first couple of times you hear it, but then you consider the time frame that the movie took place in.   Children 8 and up would be able to appreciate the movie and learn a bit about history, political process and enjoy it at the same time.

For this dad, Lincoln enters our top 5 movies of the year so far for 2012*, it’s one that you’ll enjoy seeing over and over, just to hear the dialogue.  Lincoln is a great movie and your attention will be locked on screen when Daniel Day Lewis is on.

*the others in the top 5 are Wreck It Ralph, The Raid:Redemption, Looper and Prometheus.